Colorado Projects Galore

My Colorado daughter just left after visiting with us over a 16 day period. During her visit we primarily busied ourselves with activities focused around fabric. At all hours of the day, if you stood outside my sewing room and listened, you would have heard the gentle hum of conversation blended with the whirr of my sewing machine.

Pictured below is a photo of our first project in progress. This fabric was destined for a casserole dish cozy. Unfortunately I can’t show you what the finished product looked like because I forgot to take a picture.

Next in line were two sets of Pot Pinchers from Vanilla House Designs. We picked up this pattern while shopping at Life’s A Stitch Quilt Shoppe in Janesville. My daughter just couldn’t resist buying it. At first I thought they looked a little tricky but they were super easy. So easy that my daughter, whom has very little sewing experience, was able to sew the first pair all by herself. She worked through the assembly process until she reached the binding stage. That’s when she let me take over. Once we had the first set finished we quickly started and finished the second one. My daughter made the yellow pair with ladybugs. I can’t wait to hear how she likes them.

Third on our list of creations was an adorable little Penny Mat from Buttermilk Basin called Penny Mats thru the Year “April”. This was another pattern that we purchased from Life’s A Stitch Quilt Shoppe. As you can see from the picture the Penny Mat is made from wool. As with the Pot Pinchers I thought this pattern looked rather tedious yet proved to be the most enjoyable and my favorite.

Last on our to do list was a Lazy Girl pattern called Miranda Day Bag. This pattern had been a part of my collection for quite some time, although I had not yet made one for myself. My Colorado daughter visited with us last January. While she was here she took a cruise through my pattern basket. The Miranda Day Bag caught her attention. During one of our many excursions to fabric stores she selected and purchased fabric for the pattern. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, we ran out of time and were not able to get the tote bag constructed. We left the fabric and pattern sitting on my to do shelf. I had every intention of getting to the project, before she returned, but it always seemed like something else took precedence.

Not being able to complete the bag, before my daughter visited again, turned out to be a blessing. You see, when she took a second glance at the colors she was not at all pleased. If I had gone ahead and created the bag she would have been so disappointed with the outcome. The first set of fabrics she chose were set aside. I’m sure they will find their way into some other project. So now we were back to square one. New fabrics had to be chosen.

We had a great time searching for and locating a new grouping of fabrics at Loose Threads in Milton. Choosing fabrics and visualizing how they will commingle is one of my favorite things to do. The photograph below shows our finished project. We were absolutely thrilled with the outcome. The pattern was incredibly easy to follow. I would highly recommend patterns written by the Lazy Girl company.

Since all of the items we made went back to Colorado, with my daughter, anything that I would like for my own collection will have to be recreated. The Penny Mat would definitely be one that I would choose as well as the Miranda Day Bag.

Even though my daughter has been back in Colorado for less than four days I miss her dearly. While she was here we had a wonderful adventure that included visits to numerous fabric stores, a smorgasboard of restaurants, a tour through a botanical garden and hours and hours of conversation. I will always remember this visit. I can’t wait for her to return.

One More Thing

Before I let you go I wanted to share with you the items currently waiting on my project list:

*Quilt Tops Ready for Quilting*

My Colorado daughter’s king sized quilt (Finished)

Simple Times quilt by American Crib Quilts

May Night from the Pineapple Passion Collection by Nancy Smith and Lynda Milligan published by That Patchwork Place

Bear’s Paw Quilt by Eleanor Burns from the TRIO of Treasured Quilts Quilt in a Day Series

Reblogged this on Under the Maple Canopy and commented:
So, I’m reading my Mom’s blog and seeing all the finished projects and carefully listed projects (and UFOs). I began to feel a bit sheepish. I have UFOs (unfinished objects) around here somewhere…They’ve become buried by the things I need to file in my administrative assistant to myself as the CFO of our family role plus the artwork and portfolio stuff for my teacher’s assistant to myself role.

We won’t speak of the pile of books that need to be repaired in my library assistant to myself role. Nor the “I have no idea why that’s sitting on my cutting table” bits of things that seem to breed and accumulate – mostly by the “assistance” of my children.

Did I mention the “I’m in the middle of planning this” book pile? Or the “this color printer doesn’t have any ink, the scanner function doesn’t work, but I can’t really bring myself to part ways with it” large paperweight sitting on the corner of what is supposed to be my sewing table.

It’s kind of depressing.

If only I had an actual assistant. You know, one that isn’t actually me at the same time?

We had so much fun making each and every item. I thought the pot pinchers would be a nightmare but they were actually fun to make. I like the pear ones too but the ladybugs have a way of tugging at me too. My UFOs used to be scattered all over. Kind of frightening that I have them in one place and can see how much I have purchased and how much I have to do. 🙂

Oh, what fun it looks like you’ve been having!!
I made myself the Miranda Day bag last summer. I used acrylic handles as in the photo. They are too heavy and don’t sit right when you set it down. They also hurt your arm, but look good! You’ve got me wanting to change my handles are bring it back out!

I wondered about those handles. They looked expensive and they looked like they would hurt my shoulder. I guess I’m thankful that I didn’t purchase them. Thanks for the comment. I think you should dig your purse out. The fabric handles are very, very easy to make and attach.